I mean...get vaccinated and new careful
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 26 August 2023 17:34 (one year ago) link
*be careful
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 26 August 2023 17:36 (one year ago) link
Yeah that's the latest one (though not what's causing the uptick because it's not very widespread yet).
Should be noted little is known about it yet and ease at evading immunity plus ease of transmissibility are different things and it is the latter that is of yet currently unknown
― I can't turn a fart into a question (Neanderthal), Saturday, 26 August 2023 17:36 (one year ago) link
If I follow, this new variant is easier to catch but not more dangerous, and that vaccinations will still protect against severe sickness - is that right?
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 26 August 2023 17:55 (one year ago) link
That's what the article says.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 26 August 2023 18:04 (one year ago) link
Hope there's a vaccine with the effectiveness of the flu vax at some point. I'd certainly like to unmask a bit more and relax (though I've enjoyed not even catching a cold since 2019 so maybe i'd mask in stores anyway idk?)
― omar little, Saturday, 26 August 2023 18:13 (one year ago) link
I don't think sterilizing immunity is ever coming for COVID given the unusual ease in which it mutates, but technically the flu vaccine doesn't provide that either - but their primary goals are different. Flu to prevent outright infection, COVIDs to prevent severe disease.
Determining efficiency of COVID vaccines at preventing infection going forward is also getting more difficult due to move from lab testing to at home testing and the number of people who no longer test at all. And efficacy looks like it's dropping against severe disease and hospitalization a bit paradoxically - immunity from previous infection and vaccination has already caused a significant reduction in the proportion of COVID cases that result in severe disease or hospitalization, so the shot itself provides a smaller reduction because the number of hospitalizations have already gotten quite low.
During the peak of the pandemic, about 25% of hospital beds in the US were occupied by COVID patients. It's something like 1.5% now.
This new variant is one to watch because they're worried it could have the same antigenic drift that Omicron did from original Wuhan (which doesn't necessarily mean ANOTHER Omicron scenario, but could). But this summer, prior to uptick, the prevalence of the disease had truly shrunk to lowest since April of 2020.
Even the fall/winter wave, which was expected to be very bad due to the emergence of another subvariant (I've forgotten which one) did materialize, but nowhere near at the levels feared in terms of hospitalization, death, wastewater, etc.
So there is evidence that things are getting closer to endemicity (which we still haven't reached due to the rate of mutation), but we do have to hope this new subvariant doesn't undo that to any degree.
I'm a bit more positive in this case because when Omicron was discovered (quickly), the outbreak from it was already widespread and had been for a while in Africa, and there was a lot of sequencing early on, so it was plainly obvious what was about to happen to most experts.
Less is known now because no major outbreak has (of yet) been attributed to it, so they're basing almost everything on its viral makeup and mutations, whereas during Omicron they had that PLUS emerging real world data.
That's not to downplay worries because it could be a bastard but we know much less than we did about Omicron at this point, and last fall/winter's variant, which didn't quite have the antigenic drift from Omicron like this one, had people expecting much worse.
― I can't turn a fart into a question (Neanderthal), Saturday, 26 August 2023 18:44 (one year ago) link
Good summary: https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/a-new-variant-ba286
I'm going to mask more often (if not quite as assiduously as I did in 2021 and 2022) and encourage my family to mask more often (which they won't).
But I'm not going to worry until it seems pertinent to worry. I'm tired of being anxious and repeated worry-cycles over the past few years have never helped!
(NB I don't consider sensible mask-wearing to be "worrying".)
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 26 August 2023 19:16 (one year ago) link
...although regrettably my new work experience position is in a cramped social care centre with no windows!
My last vax was booster November, I'm wondering whether to get a new one now, or hold out for the New Improved shot in the fall.
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 26 August 2023 19:18 (one year ago) link
*My last booster was November, I mean
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 26 August 2023 19:19 (one year ago) link
Chuck otm about worrying.
I'd wait until the booster.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 26 August 2023 20:37 (one year ago) link
Still haven't to my knowledge had COVID, wonder whether I ever will. Will be getting another booster this fall when the new ones are out.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, 27 August 2023 16:01 (one year ago) link
i scheduled my dad for a vaccine today, but the pharmacy told him that new vaccines are expected next month and to just wait: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/25/health/covid-vaccine-release/index.html
i haven't kept up on vaccines since getting my bivalent one back in 2022 that addressed omicron. have there been any new vaccines since the omicron bivalent one?
― 龜, Tuesday, 29 August 2023 21:40 (one year ago) link
No, but getting a second bivalent jab since then proved easy.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 21:41 (one year ago) link
xp - nothing new released since the initial bivalent vaccine
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 21:42 (one year ago) link
but the pharmacy told him that new vaccines are expected next month and to just wait
this is the current conventional wisdom https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-booster-fall.html
― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 04:27 (one year ago) link
i turned 65 a few days ago which i think entitles me to another jab, but i think i'm going to wait for the new vaccine, although it seems like the disease has already moved on from there. decisions decisions.
― Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, 30 August 2023 11:17 (one year ago) link
i will admit to being somewhat petrified of "long vax," which is apparently a thing. although "rare."
― Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, 30 August 2023 11:22 (one year ago) link
although it seems like the disease has already moved on from there. d
What I've read suggests the new booster will offer enough protection against the new variant
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 11:49 (one year ago) link
I can't get any vaccines for awhile because of my cancer treatments (and haven't had any for quite awhile), so I will simply not get covid.
― 50 Favorite Jordans (Jordan), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 12:59 (one year ago) link
Well I’ve got it again, number two, even thoughI’ve been masking more often for the past couple weeks. Not often enough I guess! We’re on holiday at a rental apartment, so that’s complicated too :/
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 1 September 2023 06:47 (one year ago) link
https://open.substack.com/pub/yourlocalepidemiologist/p/ba286-update
Somewhat more reassuring news on latest variant
― Dinglebert Humperstink (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 13:43 (one year ago) link
My mom finally tested positive for the first time, after coming back from a trip to the UK. She's probably already on the tail end of the infection (whose manifestation was clouded by jet lag), and so far she says she's had worse colds; very mild symptoms, no fever, etc. Hopefully it stays that way! She'd steadily let down her guard over the years, as far as masking goes, but at a certain point it may be have been inevitable, given she's a big traveller. As a retired pediatrician her armchair theory has been that she has been exposed to countless coronavirus strains over the decades, giving her some latent protection.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 14:01 (one year ago) link
My friend is a paediatric consultant and is one of the only few people I know to have never tested positive, despite working in a hospital throughout (and testing throughout). So poss something in that theory! Although tbf all of her colleagues have had it over the past couple of years, some badly.
― kinder, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:24 (one year ago) link
seems like there's an outbreak at my wife's workplace, fella came into work feeling under the weather, "feel weak, like i got hit by a truck, but i tested negative so it seems ok!" and sat in on an all-day conference. her closest co-worker came down with it over the weekend and is going thru hell at present. similar to her boss and his recent experience: throat feeling like it's got broken glass shredding everything, difficulty drinking and eating, fever, exhaustion, etc.
the local nextdoor remains lit with antimaskers, claiming they're ineffective, claiming it's all about control. it's like 2021 again.
― omar little, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:34 (one year ago) link
Does your wife's job offer sick leave? If so, absolutely no reason why even someone with a legit cold should be showing up -- or at least wearing a mask.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:35 (one year ago) link
they're not even really keeping track of who comes in! it's very hybrid-friendly. my wife's co-worker (who caught it) heard him say that and yelled at him to go home. he talked to him for perhaps thirty seconds.
i think some people are just in denial about what they might have and of course i guess if the test says negative they just assume, even when they're not always helpful.
zero reason why anyone feeling slightly under the weather shouldn't wear a mask around others. this is one of the reasons i keep wearing one: i don't trust everyone around me to do the right thing (and based on the number of hacking coughs and sneezes in grocery stores, maybe i'm right.)
― omar little, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:39 (one year ago) link
Alfred, you are 100% correct of course, buy I have known and worked for a frightening number of middle managers who, even here in 2023, do not share that view. Not my direct manager, but another in my department even said in an all hands meeting, "I know it's that time of year, but if you can walk, you can come in to work". I was appalled that this was met with complete and utter silence by the two senior leaders in the room.
Point being, I've known some smart people with good intentions that feel either directly, or indirectly, brow-beaten, shamed or threatened to feel like they MUST come into the office.
Distressingly, yet another lesson that should have been learned from the pandemic, but has already been forgotten because... well, capitalism.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:43 (one year ago) link
"similar to her boss and his recent experience: throat feeling like it's got broken glass shredding everything, difficulty drinking and eating"
yeah, this is me on day 8
― Chyiv Kyiv (Fetchboy), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:47 (one year ago) link
Luckily my manager has been very clear that if you have any symptom that could possibly be covid, you should work from home.
― o. nate, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 22:02 (one year ago) link
Fortunately most of us are sensible enough to just stay home, regardless of the shaming or w/e, but we do have one employee that ALWAYS comes in sick. It drives me bananas.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 22:06 (one year ago) link
Have you ever made a joke at their expense? I used to in the pre-COVID days about an employee who insisted on coming in with sniffles: "Don't you have a life? Stay home. It's a day off."
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 22:10 (one year ago) link
70 y.o. sis in law tested positive for the first time ever over the weekend, and a friend who's a metro bus driver finally caught it for sure last week.
― Jaq, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 22:18 (one year ago) link
xpost - yeah, many variations thereof, she's a gruff old schooler who just grumbles back, "are you gonna get my work done when I'm not here?!?"
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 22:22 (one year ago) link
Alfred, you are 100% correct of course, buy I have known and worked for a frightening number of middle managers who, even here in 2023, do not share that view. Not my direct manager, but another in my department even said in an all hands meeting, "I know it's that time of year, but if you can walk, you can come in to work". I was appalled that this was met with complete and utter silence by the two senior leaders in the room.Point being, I've known some smart people with good intentions that feel either directly, or indirectly, brow-beaten, shamed or threatened to feel like they MUST come into the office.Distressingly, yet another lesson that should have been learned from the pandemic, but has already been forgotten because... well, capitalism.
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 22:43 (one year ago) link
my wife is absolutely refusing to go into the office more than she needs to and she's the only one masking.
there's another (awful-sounding) executive at the company who had someone working for her, and this someone was masking because she had some concerns about a visiting relative, and she told this exec that. later in an all-hands meeting, the exec called out this employee and said, "why are you wearing that? take it off." i do believe that employee quit.
― omar little, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 23:11 (one year ago) link
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new round of vaccines against COVID-19.
The vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech were approved Monday for people 12 and older and under an emergency use authorization for children ages 6 months to 11 years old.
"Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement. "The public can be assured that these updated vaccines have met the agency's rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. We very much encourage those who are eligible to consider getting vaccinated."
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 11 September 2023 19:55 (eleven months ago) link
sign me up
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 11 September 2023 20:11 (eleven months ago) link
I'll never stop!
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 11 September 2023 20:38 (eleven months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5wEfqFoX-Q
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 11 September 2023 20:54 (eleven months ago) link
Leeeeeeeroy Jenkins
― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Monday, 11 September 2023 20:59 (eleven months ago) link
Glad to see eua for kids get the nod at the same time
Put it in my veins! (Literally)
― deep wubs and tribral rhythms (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 11 September 2023 21:01 (eleven months ago) link
I’ve got covid right now. Personal and anecdotal evidence def points to this thing hitting and not testing positive till a day or two later. So um if you’re suddenly fatigued and feel a bit crappy and test negative don’t tell everyone “it must be allergies” and go about your business. I’d say there’s an 87% chance you have covid and will test positive in a day or two. That’s my scientific analysis. Best you can do is start quarantining least you can do is wear the mask and don’t exert yourself.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 12 September 2023 01:05 (eleven months ago) link
keep masking as much as you can y'all
― omar little, Tuesday, 12 September 2023 01:14 (eleven months ago) link
yep
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Tuesday, 12 September 2023 01:23 (eleven months ago) link
Same thing happened to me two weeks ago when I caught it. First day tested negative but had a feeling it was the 'vid. Sure enough tested negative the next morning.
― Chyiv Kyiv (Fetchboy), Tuesday, 12 September 2023 04:23 (eleven months ago) link
Woo-hoo!
CVS Health® (NYSE: CVS) today announced that the updated COVID-19 vaccine recently authorized by the FDA and recommended by the CDC is now available at its CVS Pharmacy locations. Pharmacies will begin receiving the new vaccine today and will continue to receive inventory on a rolling basis throughout the week. All CVS Pharmacy locations are expected to have the vaccination in stock by early next week.
I made my Monday afternoon appointment.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 September 2023 14:40 (eleven months ago) link
booster booked for Saturday (along with flu). flying to Europe later that day, hopefully this isn't a bad idea.
― bulb after bulb, Wednesday, 13 September 2023 15:04 (eleven months ago) link
and too early for the new shot?
― bulb after bulb, Wednesday, 13 September 2023 15:05 (eleven months ago) link